Staffordshire Museums

 I had a free day before a book talk this evening, so I went on a grand tour of Staffordshire museums.

I started at the remains of the Roman town of Wall (Letocetum). This town on Watling Street, the main road to London, was well established by 50AD. The remains of the walls here cover the public bathhouse and the main administrative building. It is only a small site but has good information boards. A small museum is attached to the site, but it has minimal opening times.

The next stop was the excellent Staffordshire Regimental Museum near Lichfield. It has a few armoured vehicles (Spartan, Ferret, MTLB, Bren Carrier) outside and one of the best replica WWI trenches I have seen. Inside is the usual chronological set of display cases covering the regiments amalgamated into the North and South Staffords, which today are part of the Mercian Regiment. 

Iraqi MTLB

I had never seen this 20-round magazine for the SMLE.  120,000 were issued in 2018.

This did make me laugh.

I stopped off in Lichfield for lunch and rummaged through the second-hand bookshops. The cathedral is impressive and has a regimental chapel. It saw much action during the Civil War, including three sieges.

This memorial in the chapel covers the little-known Sutlej Campaign in the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1815.

The final stop was the National Memorial Arboretum. This is very impressive, with memorials to the regiments, corps, and campaigns of the armed forces and others who lost their lives, such as railway workers and miners. It is beautifully laid out and makes a great afternoon stroll.

The main post-1945 memorial.

The South Atlantic memorial

Gallipoli. It includes the famous Ataturk quote, although he probably didn't say it.